Friday, May 6, 2011

GE2011 - My emotional night before cooling down

Last night, I went to the last Workers' Party rally of the election year.

I rushed off from work and drove more than one hour from my office to the stadium, in a traffic so jammed up that my average speed was 20kmh throughout the whole journey.

When I finally reached the area near the stadium, all the carparks were full. I had to park my car 1.8km (Google map said one) away and walked my way to the stadium under the hot evening heat.

But I did not walk alone. There were loads and loads of people heading the same way as me, some in groups, some couples, some alone, all excited and pumped up.

When I reached the traffic junction at the stadium, looking at the huge crowd spilling out of the stadium, seated outside the stadium, standing along the pavement outside the stadium, waiting to cross the roads towards the stadium, it then occurred to me how humongous the crowd was. Definitely more Singaporeans there than the NDP.

Luckily I was still able to get into the stadium and find a little spot at the end of the field (yes, by then only left the limited space at the back of the field in the stadium liaoz). And there I stood, where for two hours I listened calmly together with everybody, cheered frantically with everybody and perspired together with everybody.

That night, as with the other rallies, Workers' Party took the words in our mind and our hope in our heart, and amplified them through the loudspeakers in the stadium.

Finally, the rally was wrapped up with Workers' Party leading us through the Singapore pledge. Together with all our hearts, as Singaporeans, without rehearsal, we pledged ourselves as one united people again.

When I left the stadium at the end of the night, I knew that if I have not gone to the rally, I would have to regret and repent for five years.

Now, the only problem is... Workers' Party did not come to my house. I have to vote between a cannot-make-it opposition party and PAP.